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Author
Topic: New to the forums. (Read 9467 times)

Hi my name is Luis and new to this wonderful website. I was infected exactly two years ago and have not been dealing with my HIV status the way I am suppose to and have lived these two years with many fears to confront my reality. My family and friends know about my status and they have been super supportive, more than I think I deserve. I was involved with drugs and was quite promiscuous even after several STD scares I continued to live life in the fast lane. I am currently on medications and despite the horrific side-effects i suffered in the beginning I am currently doing well. I've been coming to this website and reading several threads for quite sometime but have not bothered to become a member but feel like I can learn alot and perhaps share my story with any people who have been recently diagnosed. I would also like to give my admiration to those people who have been living with HIV for many years and are still with us, without you the contributions of you guys perhaps I would be in a different state of mind now.

We are a diverse group and I'm sure you will find people to relate to in no time!

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LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

Welcome to the forum. It's nice to meet you. I'm not sure we will help you escape from all of your fears but we can certainly try. You've got family, friends and now us. That's a good trifecta you've got going for you and it wouldn't surprise me to see you opening up a lot of new doors.

Heya Luis! Welcome to the forums. I think it's terrific that your family and friends are so supportive.

As to the fear, I hope you will find this foum a safe place to talk about it... and maybe even get some tips for overcoming it.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Welcome to the forums and I hope that you will find many of the answers you seek by reading through the threads and starting your own, like this one. As I read through your post I was struck by many comments you made and I would just like to add some perspective on some of the feelings you have expressed. You say you have been poz now for two years and do not feel that you are dealing with your status as you should and my suggestion to you is that there is no right or wrong way to deal with becoming poz. You do what you have to start adjusting and that adjustment can take so many forms that all that matters is you find your own path using whatever support you find works for you.

That leads me to my second suggestion and that would be for you to start working on forgiving yourself for whatever role you may have played in becoming poz. Yes easier said than done, but until you learn to really love yourself (with forgiveness being one of the highest levels of self-love) how will you ever feel worthy of being loved by others? And if you do not love yourself enough, you will see no reason to take care of yourself and to accept the support that is lovingly given to you by others, both personally and through these forums.

Luis, my friend, you have done nothing to deserve being infected with HIV and nobody here cares how you became infected, only that you are and that you found your way here. Welcome to the forums and the family you will find contained within. While we can never tell you how your journey with HIV will unfold, we can guarantee that you will never have to walk alone as we will be there when you need us.

Thanks for the very informative post and it is good to see you finally came in and posted. I hope you find what you need here, and I trust that you will be a help to others at the same time. This is truly the best of both worlds.

Love,

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The Bible contains 6 admonishments to homosexuals,and 362 to heterosexuals.This doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals, It's just that they need more supervision.Lynn Lavne

Welcome to the forums, Luis. I'm glad that you're dealing better with the meds now. There are plenty of people on here that can help you with the meds and everything that goes with living with HIV. Never be afraid to ask!

Glad you could pop in and join us. I haven't been dealing with this disease for very long, but I know that we all cope in our own ways. Don't beat yourself up over life....the HIV is doing that enough.

Kudos for your monicker name. Being a Jewish woman, I think it takes guts to be open about your strong feelings regarding your faith.

Faith and hope have kept me strong through the worst times of my life.

Good for you.

Thank you Carol. I must admit, being diagnosed with HIV kind of Tampered with my religious faith but I've learned to accept my mistakes and I am responsible for my actions. I am a content individual who loves Christ and I love all people who are genuinely nice regardless of their religion.

I agree completely. I think that all religions have an underlying message, and that message is kindness. Bhudists, Jews, Christians, etc. all believe that kindness is the ultimate path the enlightenment. Some extreme factions of any group lose the message of kindness.

I am not sure if God exists, but the cohesion that religion should bring I think is good. Sadly, religion has brought a lot of bad too.

That doesn't mean that you should lose any of the hope and strength that your faith provides you.

Iím not normally one to discuss my spiritual beliefs in public, but I do also have faith (uncategorized) and have friends of various beliefs Ė mostly Buddhist, Christian and Jewish. My strong non denominational faith in a loving God has given me more than I would have had without it. Mainly, the ability to grow and thrive in "the big bad world" while living with the challenge of HIV/AIDS. I am certain a loving God exists because I have years of personal experiences that wiped away any previous doubting.

To me, love in action can be a powerful and healing force. I hope you are met with lots of that during your experience here.

Sad. But thank you peter for providing a safe place for all of us to be ourselves even though we may disagree at times.

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LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safelyin a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT ARIDE!!!

Um, were I a moderator, I would be really careful for the next couple of weeks. These trolls are going to be back.

PS: As I lay my head down each night, I think the maker I am not a moderator.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

It's VERY offensive considering the huge amount of time that this forum spent after IHH's diagnosis propping him up on countless threads. It's unfortunate that he sought refuge in the Unholy Trinity and was seemingly convinced that everyone here is evil and must be fought with espionage, including the use of defamatory and libelous blog postings with imagery directed at various and sundry members.

I try to adhere to not holding a grudge at people for things, but I'd be lying if I said I planned on doing that in this case.

I just think it's sad that someone can be so unskilled with an alternick as to be detected in about 5 minutes like he was.

Really! I read JK's thing about "3 hours from start of thread to bustage". Let's face it: we all can truthfully deduct about 2:55 from that time. Most of that time was spent discussing the fraud amongst ourselves whilst we waited for mods to show.

And like when Peter said, "We've been had"...all I could think of was, "not really". A few people posted welcomes here and there early on, but that's just cuz we're all so warm and friendly here, ya know?

Yah it blows that someone could be so callous, but it won't stop me from approaching new members with kindness and caring instead of suspicion and doubt. It wonít turn me into the kind of person I canít stand. So what has IHH accomplished? Nothing at all.

Me thinks CarolAnn should go directly to the light.......................and keep on going.

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"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves.."Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"

Jesuslovesyou. I must admit that this name raised my eyebrows a bit. I can't get into the head of people who do that. I well remember the somaforu incident. That was just weird.

Well, Jesuslovesyou is off in cyberspace performing all his miracles...latest one; wine into urine.

R

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NB. Any advice about HIV is given in addition to your own medical advice and not intended to replace it. You should never make clinical decisions based on what anyone says on the internet but rather check with your ID doctor first. Discussions from the internet are just that - Discussions. They may give you food for thought, but they should not direct you to do anything but fuel discussion.

We've been had. JesusLovesYou is actually Ihavehope, who was on a Time Out. Both accounts have now been permanently banned.

Peter

WHAT?

what do you mean JesusLovesYou is actually Ihavehope? why would IHAVEHOPE actually do that??? I am confused,,, whats this all about? isn't IHAVE HOPE the guy who just started the meds and were freaking out about having to start it?